Stock Market & Financial Investment News

BP, Transocean, Halliburton may be charged with more violations, Bloomberg saysBP (BP), Transocean (RIG), and Halliburton (BP) may receive notices of additional violations of U.S. rules related to the 2010 Gulf oil spill, Michael Bromwich, the director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, told Bloomberg. Reference Link

Transocean sees 2015-2018 newbuild CapEx at $1B-$1.8B per yearTransocean currently forecasts 2015-2018 newbuild CapEx at $1B-$1.8B per year. To improve fleet quality, Transocean said it will divest or scrap non]core assets and invest in high]specification rigs. Transocean says exploration successes support long]term ultra]deepwater demand. Market conditions are currently challenging and the rig market, including ultra]deepwater, is temporarily oversupplied, Transocean added. Continued progress on margin improvement initiatives help mitigate deteriorating market conditions with objective of about $800M in margin improvement by year]end 2015. Transocean said it will remain "disciplined and prudent" in terms of capital investment. Information from slides for the company's presentation at the Scotia Howard Weil Energy Conference.

On The Fly: Midday WrapStocks on Wall Street were mixed at midday, with Nasdaq slightly higher and the Dow and S&P 500 both down a bit more than 0.5%. The days economic reports were generally benign and are likely less significant to the trading action than participants having had some time to digest yesterdays Fed comments. Immediately after the Fed's policy statement yesterday, the U.S. dollar fell as low as 1.10 against the euro, but that move was almost entirely reversed overnight. The dollar was back near pre-Fed levels against the euro early this morning, and similar moves were seen in pairs of the dollar and other major currencies. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims rose 1K to 291K in the week ended March 14, which nearly matched the consensus 293K forecast. The current account deficit widened to $113.5B in Q4 from a revised deficit of $98.9B in Q3. The leading indicators for February rose 0.2% to 121.4, which was in-line with expectations. The Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey ticked down to a 5.0 one-year low from 5.2 in February, missing expectations for it to have risen a 7.0 reading. In Europe, the Swiss National Bank left rates unchanged, cut its growth forecasts for the country's economy, said that it will intervene in currency markets as needed since it believes the Swiss Franc remains overvalued. COMPANY NEWS: Apple (AAPL) joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average today, replacing AT&T (T). Shares of the iPhone maker were down 0.5% near midday, while AT&T stock fell a bit more than 1%... Shares of coffee giant Starbucks (SBUX) hit a new all-time high of $98.50 earlier this afternoon following the company's investor day meeting yesterday. In conjunction with its meeting, Starbucks reaffirmed its goal to grow its market cap to $100B, unveiled plans for two pilots of delivery services, announced that its board has declared the sixth two-for-one split of the companys stock since its IPO in 1992 and said it has entered into an agreement for Tingyi to manufacture and expand the distribution of Starbucks ready-to-drink products throughout mainland China. Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo both issued upbeat notes on the stock today, saying that the coffee retailer's shares can continue to climb. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Coronado Biosciences (CNDO), which gained 42% after announcing the formation of a new company, Mustang Therapeutics, focused on Chimeric Antigen Receptor, or CAR-T, technology. The company also announced a licensing agreement with NeuPharma for EGFR inhibitors. Also higher was Guess (GES), which gained 15% after reporting higher than expected profits for its fiscal fourth quarter. Among the noteworthy losers was Transocean (RIG), which fell 6% after having announced last night that four of its 5th generation UDW drillships will be cold stacked and the contract with ENI (E) for the Transocean Amirante was terminated. Transocean also said it intends to scrap four rigs, noting that with those it has announced plans to scrap a total of 16 floaters. Also lower following its earnings report was diversified apparel company Vince Holding (VNCE), which fell 16%. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 128.51, or 0.71%, to 17,947.68, the Nasdaq was up 3.15, or 0.06%, to 4,985.98, and the S&P 500 was down 13.36, or 0.64%, to 2,086.14.

Transocean reiterated as a Sell, target to $11 at GoldmanAfter the close, Transocean announced that four of its 5th generation UDW drillships will be cold stacked and the contract with ENI for the Transocean Amirante was terminated due to the deteriorating security situation in Libya. The firm said these two announcements are indicative of the very weak contracting environment. Goldman reiterates its Sell rating on Transocean and lowered its price target to $11 from $12.

Exterran nominates five new directors to boardExterran Holdings (EXH) announced that its Board of Directors has nominated the following individuals for election to the Exterran Holdings Board at the Companys 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on April 28: Anne-Marie N. Ainsworth  former President and CEO of the general partner of Oiltanking Partners, L.P. (OILT); Frances Powell Hawes  independent financial consultant and former CFO of NCI Building Systems (NCS); James H. Lytal  independent energy consultant and former President of Gulfterra Energy Partners LP; Richard R. Stewart- former President and CEO of GE Aero Energy (GE); and Ieda Gomes Yell  Managing Director of Energix Strategy Ltd. and former President of BP Brazil (BP). In November 2014, we announced a plan to separate Exterrans international contract operations, international aftermarket services and global fabrication businesses into an independent, publicly traded company in the second half of 2015, said Mark Sotir, Executive Chairman of the Board. Our Board has nominated these additional well qualified director candidates in anticipation of certain of Exterrans directors resigning from the Board at the time of the separation in order to join the board of directors of the new publicly traded company. We have not yet reached a final determination regarding which directors will remain on Exterrans Board and which directors will join the board of directors of SpinCo at the time of the separation.